Beat the Experts

Beat The Experts is trivia game that lets us mere mortals go head-to-head with more than 40 world-class experts, including astronaut Buzz Aldrin, actor Danny Glover and sex therapist Dr. Ruth. Other names include: Brian Boitano, Willie Brown, Alan Hassenfeld, Robin Leach, Peter Marshall, Barry Scheck, Gloria Steinem, Adam West and Steve Young. (Adam West, Buzz Aldrin and Dr. Ruth were among the experts on hand at Toy Fair to debut the game.)

Each expert answered a list of 10 questions that are directly -- or sometimes loosely -- based on his or her field of expertise. For example, Dr. Ruth was asked to name the Roman goddess of love. Gloria Steinem when the first brassiere was patented. And Danny Glover named the author of The Color Purple.

The object is to get more right answers than the expert. The player who beats the most experts in their own field wins the game. Beat The Experts comes with 150 Expert Quizzes, 72 Did You Know? Cards, 72 Brain Beater Cards, game board, card sleeve, four pawns, a timer and instructions. For 2 or more players, ages 8 and up.

Web: http://www.ugames.com/ugitem.asp?itemno=01846&brand=UG

Why is a Caesar Salad called a Caesar Salad? Why "Bikini?" In Derivation, players write down the origins of a word, phrase or name, the author of a quote or what an abbreviation stands for. But you don't really need to know the answer -- you can also win points by inventing convincing fake derivations. Players earn a letter (the goal is to spell "derivation") by knowing the correct answer, by choosing the correct answer, and by creating the most believable fake answer.

Web: http://www.entspire.com/derivation/

Players have to fill their train cars with passengers by building chains of names in Nametrain. The trick is that each new word must begin with the last letter of the previous word. For 2 to 6 players or teams, ages 12 and up.

Web: http://www.qfreegames.com/

Nanofictionary is a game for 3 to 6 players in which the goal is to make up creative -- but very short -- stories. Each story contains four plot devices: Setting, Problem, Character, Resolution. Each player develops the basic structure of a story by building up a collection of cards in each of the four categories.

Action cards allow players to add "complications" to their stories, take ideas from other players, and pull old ideas out of the discard pile.

The game has three separate phases. First is the Writing Phase, in which everyone develops the outline of a story by collecting the 4 types of plot devices. Second is the Storytelling Phase, in which players take turns telling short stories based on their cards, embellishing as needed to unite and explain the elements on the cards.

The final phase is the Awards Phase, in which prize cards are given to the authors of the most popular stories. Extra points are also awarded for finishing early, and for having more cards in your story. Whoever gets the highest overall score wins.

Looney Labs, the publisher of Nanofictionary, also had on display Fluxx, Icehouse, Chrononauts, Aquarius, and Cosmic Coasters.

Web: http://www.looneylabs.com/

A press release describes Proclaim! as a "thoughtfully ambiguous word association game." One player gives clues, while the other players (4 to 10 players total) try to guess a word. The clue-giver's chief goal is to get just one other player to guess correctly on the first try. Clues can be either one word (synonyms, antonyms, or any other related word) or two words so long as one of the two is a blank (e.g. "Clue ____" or "_____ clue").

Web: http://www.proclaimgame.com/

Using cards with minimal sketches -- seemingly random lines and curves -- players have a limited time to create a picture or object. Hundreds of images can be created from a simple squiggle: It all depends on which way you look at it. Points are earned if your teammate can guess your squiggle creation; if not, you may have a “second chance” to act it out.

Web: http://www.playsquiggle.com/

In this new party game, players roll 19 colorful, oversized wooden dice, each of which has six different images on it. (The dice are very nice; I was surprised by how large they are.) The goal in VisualEyes is to combine at least two of the images into a common phrase. For example, images of a house and a tree could form "tree house." A clock and a bird could be "time flies."

Web: http://www.buffalogames.com/

This game -- based on questions that begin with "Would you rather..." -- was an independent release, picked up by Hasbro, and now is independent again. Zobmondo!! now is available as a board game, in book form, on wireless phones, and a Zobmondo!! television pilot has been produced by Studios USA, a division of USA Networks. A Twisted, Sick and Wrong Version of the game is scheduled to be published.

Web: http://www.zobmondo.com/